*Sigh* Look, I understand I’m in the right age groups for this book, but I can, at least, appreciate YA novels. Hell, YA can be awesome. The problem is, at least, make an attempt to not insult the intelligence of the reader and write a well-written story. Go Ask Alice is one of those books that make you wonder why did it sell so many copies.
Go Ask Alice is about a teenage girl who one year goes to stay with her grandparents and meets a group of kids that are iffy at best. That is how she first starts to takes drugs which would then ruin her life.
First, let’s get one thing straight: This book is pure fiction. Just look at the copyright page of the book and it says, “this book is a work of fiction.” It’s obvious it’s fiction because of the writing. No teenage girl can use those big words. Not to mention a teenage girl in the seventies would not call their parents mother and father.
As for the writing itself, it’s pretty bland. As a book that’s written as a diary, it is not engaging at all and the stuff that happens isn’t all that realistic. Yes, realistic. It’s obvious this book is meant to be an anti-drug ad, but some of the stuff are ridiculous. Teens really don’t start off with acid. Marijuana is usually the starting point and that’s usually where it ends. Pills like speed, maybe. Hard stuff like acid and LSD are WAY too expensive for a teen and the highs those give are more terrifying than exhilarating.
Hell, she then SELLS drugs. Seriously, she becomes a drug dealer. Becoming a drug dealer is a LOT harder than the book makes it out to be. It would be more realistic for a teen to sell his sleeping pills, ADHD pills or antidepressants. Marijuana and other drugs require a supplier, something a lot of teens don’t have.
Also, the book reads like something D.A.R.E would come up with. The thing about these organizations is that, yes, their hearts are in the right place but teens think of them as jokes.
All in all, Go Ask Alice is purely fictionalized propaganda that doesn’t know anything about teens and drug use in teens. You may have read this book in school or may read it for a class. Expect to hate this book because it’s just pure poorly written silliness.
